Cat responded to Peter's comments and questions coldly, but this time he didn't take it personally. The young hero kept walking next to her as if all was okay.
"MJ!" Peter exclaimed when they saw the young girl approaching. "Hey!"
The girl wrapped her arms around him and held onto him, the abrupt display of affection took Cat by surprise, she stumbled to a stop and stared at them with her mouth slightly open.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm okay. You okay?"
"Yeah..." MJ noticed her, she blushed but she didn't let go of Peter. "Cat."
The mutant smiled a little. "Hey, Jones. Where's Happy?"
"I— I left him back there," MJ pointed over her shoulder. "Sorry."
"It's okay, I should go check on the rest..."
"I'll go with you—"
"No," she gave him a look. "Let me, please."
The boy nodded, Cat noticed he was still shorter than both girls, but he matched MJ way better.
***
"Well, I'm glad you're alive. I guess the coded message worked."
"Appearances can be deceiving'— Heh. I'm surprised you didn't just wink in the camera."
"It worked."
"Only because I had serious doubts about Beck from the beginning."
"Not true. He had zero doubts."
Cat snorted, Fury looked at her and then at Happy, and he frowned.
"Where's Parker?"
"With his girl," Cat replied.
"I thought you were his girl?"
"I'm just a friend." She was a shitty one, but Cat was starting to believe that maybe that had little influence on other people's reasons to love her.
"I need to speak with him."
"He'll call you," Happy replied with a serious face.
"He'll ca—?" The man cackled. "Okay. Great. Well, he better. Or it's your ass." He pointed his index finger at Happy's face. "And don't even think about ghosting me."
"Talking about ghosting..." Cat gave a step forward and stood next to Happy with her hands behind her back.
Talos, who was now an expert at mimicking Fury, quickly tilted his head in suspicion and squinted his eye.
"After this mess, I've finally realized something," she glanced at Happy, who encouraged her to finish her sentence. "It doesn't matter if you trained me to be an agent, I don't want to be one."
"What?"
"I can't follow orders from an organization I don't trust. It's a thing Peter just taught me. Actions are what really matter, and yours showed me you don't care about doing the right thing, you only care about having control."
Fury and Hill shared a look, they knew that speech wasn't directed at them, so Hill shrugged and Fury pretended to get very serious.
"You're aware this means you'll no longer have access to things? Like money."
"Oh, I'll figure that out. I've had boring, plain jobs before," she smirked. "I know people."
"Very well," Fury nodded at Happy as a goodbye. "Clear your desk before next Monday, agent."
Once he was away, she turned to Happy. "How was that? Was I too much?"
"I think you got your point across."
"You don't think they'll put me on a wanted list, right?"
"No, you're fine," he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and patted them in a fatherly way. "Tony and Pietro would be proud."
"Nat would be exasperated, though, and Steve would be thinking of a ted talk to lift my spirits and assure me he's there for me."
"We should have dinner at Pepper's place. Let's call Rhodey, I'm sure they'll want to hear the news..."
"Sure."
"You call Harley as well."
She groaned, leaning her forehead on his shoulder. "I hate having to keep my social life, well, alive."
_________________
The virtual conference she held with Fury was far from pleasant. There would be no protection for her in case she screwed up, and she would have to save her own ass from whatever bad guy decided to chase after her.
It was hard to feel guilty when she knew friends and family were expecting her at the other side of the scolding, all of them with open arms and ready to help her crawl out of the hole she'd been stuck in since her brother's death.
The first person she visited, was Harley.
Cat knocked on his door not knowing if he'd be there, he could be back home spending time with his family, but then she heard his long, sort of dragged steps approaching, and then she had him right in front of her.
"You're here," he stated unfazed, Cat had shown up unannounced so many times before he was used to it. "I thought you were supposed to keep your identity a secret, but now you're out there flying around with your ex-boyfriend in a flashy blue suit—"
The mutant interrupted his rambling by giving him a hug. Harley kept his arms hovering over her, he was definitely not used to her initiating affectionate gestures out of nowhere.
"What's going on?"
"I'm no longer a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."
"WHAT?"
"I don't think I'll stand aside if someone I care about is at risk. I don't think I'm the kind of person who can follow orders no matter what."
"Yeah, no shit," Harley frowned. "Last time we hung out you crossed the street without even looking!"
She smiled. "I don't need to look, Harley. I have enhanced hearing!"
"Is your body enhanced too? Because you'll get run over one day and I won't be able to get your life insurance if you fuck up!" Cat stepped away from him, and Harley got even more alarmed when he noticed she was crying. "Holy shit, Stray, what did they do to you?"
"What, just cause I don't cry often it means I'm going through something?" She scoffed.
"Yeah?"
Cat shook her head. "I'm just letting myself feel what I didn't after I buried my friends. I'm sorry, I was scared. I thought that if I made you hate me then you wouldn't care if I didn't come back. I was wrong, I can't make you stop caring unless it's your decision."
"I think that's the wisest thing I've ever heard from you," he raised a brow. "Is this Spider-man's doing?"
She shrugged, a loving smile on her face. "I'm just... I'm starting to believe in my worth again."
Harley adopted a teasing grin. "Does this mean you're back together?"
"Oh God, no," she cringed. "I fully believe I did the right thing when I broke things off, he's dating someone else now."
"Really? Who?"
"My first best friend."
Harley whistled lowly. "And you're not upset?"
She shook her head. "I can't think of two people who deserve happiness and love more than they do."
"What about us?" He pointed back and forth. "I could use some comfort."
"Well, I can help you pack before you go to your family... We can have a movie night?"
"Is that supposed to be enough?"
"I'm hardly enough," she sighed. "But you decided to be friends with me, so you get what I can offer. Take it or leave it."
Harley put an arm around her shoulders, closing the door with his foot. "I'll take it."
***
Cat had enough money saved but she would run out of it at some point, so she needed to find something that would allow her to patrol the city.
She was contemplating giving Matthew a call to see if his office needed a secretary, given that Karen had been promoted. Cat grabbed her phone and, as if her brain had reactivated old muscles she hadn't used in years, her first instinct was to text Peter.
'You guys have any plans for tonight?'
P.P: MJ and I have a date :)
P.P: but Ned broke up with Betty. I can give you his number if you want to hang?
Cat imagined herself texting another teenager and asking if he wanted to play video games... it didn't matter if they were still friends, her old habits felt out of place in her adult life.
'Nah, it's fine. Have fun with MJ!'
She walked around the living room for a while, cleaning up the place. Felix the white cat sneaked through her open window and bumped into her legs. It was true that she wasn't built for a domestic existence, her body was asking her to run around, to find a new adventure. Her brain, though, was only asking for some company.
"How about we go out for a while, boy?" She asked the cat.
Her phone buzzed to notify her of Peter's reply, but that wasn't the text that got her attention. She had three chats: one from Fury giving her instructions to finish her mission on the illegal auctions, the other was some funny video Happy had sent, and the last was Kurt, most likely something about an argument he'd gotten himself into with one of the nuns.
She left her apartment but Felix didn't follow her, he jumped onto the couch to have a long and cozy nap.
***
Matthew's mother guided her to Kurt's room. The woman said he'd been grumpy the last few days and that she believed the loneliness was starting to weigh on him. She hoped Cat could get him out of his bad mood.
The young mutant stood at the entrance and knocked softly, Kurt was laying on his bed with an arm covering his eyes. "I'll go in a minute, sister, I'm having a headache."
"I didn't know devils could suffer from a heavy conscience," she joked.
Kurt sat up abruptly, his yellow eyes widened and even though they had no pupils, she imagined them growing a little at the sight. "Mimi!"
He teleported from the bed to her side and lifted her up in a bear hug. She chortled, giving him a playful punch so he would put her down.
"You sure are lively for a guy in pain," Cat teased.
"I said it to keep them away. They've been all over me as if I'm some kind of dying creature..."
"Maggie said you're grumpy."
"You would be too if you weren't allowed to take a walk around the city," he made a face.
"But they let you stand on the roof during the night! You make a pretty cool gargoyle..."
"You're in a good mood," he pointed out. "Gonna tell me why?"
"You'll stop sulking?"
"I'll be a perfect sunshine."
Cat told him all that'd happened, and Kurt was really happy to hear she was back to being an Avenger. Truth be told he sucked at cheering up people, and he feared that his company would not be enough to help her.
"That spider-dude... he really knows how to get to you, huh?"
"I mean, he's one of the few that knew me as this sweet girl, part of me likes to be treated as such even if it's no longer true."
"Yeah, and insults are good fuel, but they don't carry you through hard days, do they?"
"Is that the word of the lord?" Kurt enjoyed giving her religious lectures, and even though she didn't make fun of him for it, she couldn't help but find his change of heart amusing.
"It's common sense. Maybe if you pull your head out of your ass you'll get more acquainted with it." He trapped her with one arm and ruffled her curls. "So... Goodbye Zero, she had a short life. Now you are..?"
"No no, I'm no longer doing that," she pushed her hair back. "I'm owning up to my mistakes. Zero is me, it'll always be me. I'm also Cat Maxwell. I'll be Cat Maxwell until I die."
"Unless you find a cooler name and decide you like that one better," he replied knowingly.
"If I don't enjoy the little pleasures in life, then what's the point?" She grinned.
They laughed, but Kurt's voice turned serious. "I know you hate it when things don't work out the way you plan... but you're okay, right?"
"I'm fine."
Kurt nodded, then he frowned. "Sure-sure?"
"Smurf."
"It's just—" He shook his head. "I don't want you to start bar fights again, please don't ignore life..."
"That won't happen again. I've learned my lesson and I'm not hanging out with any particularly bad influence. Just you and Harley— and Happy... and company."
He smiled, and she knew it meant trouble. "So when am I meeting your old high school friends?"
She pretended to hear someone. "Oh, sure Maggie! I'll be right up!"
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry, Smurf, I gotta go convince them to take off your leash— that's what you want, right?"
Kurt crossed his arms and scowled. "Little shit."
"Yeah, but I'm your little shit," she smiled, it was nice to feel like she belonged somewhere again. "What was that thing you said to me all those years ago? 'I'll do whatever you want'? "
The mutant huffed, a lock of fluffy blue hair briefly lifting from his forehead only to land back in place. "Maybe I should get acquainted with common sense, too..."